Bliss of Marriage
by finickypanicky
Summary: A compilation of short stories involving the Ishida household.Read about the ups and downs that Orihime and Ishida face in their marriage after all the things that they have been through.
1. Chapter 1

AN: '_that' _refers to the events in Fetching Orihime. This is sort of a sequel to the previous stories I have written involving Orihime and Ishida. I hope you guys out there enjoy them.

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Disclaimer: I **do not **own Bleach and its characters but the baby Ichirin belongs to me. 

**Haunts from the Past **

Ichirin giggled and smiled when I tickled his chin. He looks absolutely adorable with his shock of baby fine jet black hair and huge hazel brown eyes. Just merely looking into his innocent eyes reminds me of his mother. Holding him tight, I thrust him upwards and quickly recoil my outstretched arms. Ichirin let out bursts of laughter at the short ride and flashed his toothless smile as I repeated the act. 

I caught the sight of Orihime standing under the archway towards the living room. Her warm winsome smile carved onto her face as carefully watches me while I play with Ichirin. I stopped and got off from the couch. Shifting the boisterous baby to my left arm, I took Orihime into my right in a partial hug and tenderly kissed her on the lips.

"You know, I wouldn't drop him…not in this lifetime," I whispered as our lips parted. "Don't worry."

"I know you would never but _that_ might happen again…" Orihime answered quietly, tearing her gaze away from my eyes. As if Ichirin felt the pain in his mother's words, he reached out for her and patted her cheeks while babbling something in baby talk. She took Ichirin into her arms and turned to return upstairs. Under the dim light of the room, I thought I saw tears glistened in her eyes as she stepped away.

A pang of guilt shot through my body and I felt my face redden.

"Please…don't…" I manage to croak, my hands automatically went out grab her left arm to stop her from leaving. Moving closer and embracing her in a back hug, "I'm, I'm…different now…you can trust me, this time,please do…"

"Uryuu…"

"Please…I'm also his father…and I want to be the best father in the world for him…" I pleaded.

"…"

"Please…"

"…"

The atmosphere felt heavy and only silence enveloped us in its behemoth. We stood there for what felt like eternity, with just the occasional gurgle from Ichirin and the lavender shampoo scent of Orihime's hair in my nostrils.

Suddenly, she chuckled and exclaimed, "Uryuu, what are you talking about? Of course I want you to be his father. After all, we brought him into this world."

She tickled Ichirin under his chin and he reacted with another burst of laughter. The tension between us seems to intermingle with the laughter and melt away with each emergence of the new wave.

"Then, can I hold him?" I tested the waters cautiously.

"Uryuu, why did you sound like I wanted to abandon you? I'm only taking Ichirin for feeding, you know," she answered back in her cheery way punctuated with that precious smile I have fallen in love with the first time I met her.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: After much thought, I decided to delete'The Room' and put it here instead of leaving it as a lone story on its own since it involves the two of them and this section was made especially for them and their marriage. Sorry if you guys were expecting something new and were disappointed to find this here, please move on to the next chapter for the new story. This was a minor spring cleaning.

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Disclaimer: I **do not** own Bleach but they belong to Kubo Tite. 

**The Room**

"Uryuu, are we there yet?" I anxiously asked Uryuu as I cautiously took another step forward. It is not that I do not trust Uryuu but being seven months pregnant and waddling like a duck blindfolded around the house is enough to cause my maternal instinct to shriek warnings in the recesses of my mind.

"Almost there…"he whispered into my ear, his right hand tightening on mine as he gently guided me forward. The warmth of his hand is reassuring and those two small words almost washed away all my fears of banging into something huge and losing our first child but it was only temporary and soon the worries came back in full blast.

It is amazing how long the hall way felt at times like this. Suddenly, Uryuu stopped and I could hear the sound of the key being inserted into the doorknob. The doorknob rattled and the door noisily creep open.

I felt the blindfold around my eyes being tugged and away it fell. As my eyes adjusted to the light of the room, I could make out the wooden baby crib in the centre of the room. It was oblique shaped with a big cross engraved onto the head board. Above it hung a mobile with crosses of various sizes. The fact that they are nonetheless crosses remain.

The wallpaper of the room is baby blue, a soothing colour rather appropriate for the function of the room. There are some motifs on the wallpaper which I cannot really make out at the distance I am at. I stepped deeper into the room to take a closer look. They are mini crosses crisscrossing everywhere.

"How is it? Do you like it?" Uryuu's voice came from the doorway.

As I turned around to face him and answer his question, my eyes caught sight of the wooden cupboard to the far left of the room. The door handles were cross shaped too. The only difference it has compared to the other crosses in the room is that there is a circle in the middle of the cross. My mind began to reel.

"Oh, Orihime…there is something you have yet to see," said Uryuu. With broad strides, he was soon at my side and leading me towards the front of the cupboard. He opened the cupboard and drew the left drawer open. Out came something white. "I made it myself. Isn't it cute?"

He shook the white thing flat so that it hangs down nicely and I could see the whole thing as it is. A baby sized t-shirt with a sky blue vertical line at the right side running from the bottom to the top of the right shoulder and another same blue horizontal line across the middle of the t-shirt. My eyes hypnotically trace the lines to where they meet together. Another cross.

"Here, hold this…I made its pants too!"

I obediently held onto the t-shirt as I watch Uryuu pull open the right drawer. From it, out came a white baby size long pant with a vertical line running up from the right leggings to the top of the pants.

"Look, this is really cool!"

He took the t-shirt from my hands and held it onto the top of the pants so that the lines superposition to form….a huge cross.

"What do you think of it?"

I kept silent for a while. My mind frantically thinking of a way to put him down gently.

"I…don't…I…" I sighed. "Uryuu, don't you think the room is filled with way too many crosses?" I finally blurted out.

He glance around the room and answered. "Not really, its just the symbol of the Quincys! Didn't you know that?"

An impregnable silence passed for aminute or two before he suddenly spoke up again, "So what do you think about it?"


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Here it is, another one shot about Ishida and his child. Hope you guys out there enjoy it!

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Disclaimer: I **do not **own Bleach and its characters.

**Role of Fathers**

"LOOK…look, Ichirin…look at those ducks!" I pointed towards the pond where a few snow white ducks could be seen swimming around.

An innocuous laugh came from Ichirin and he opened and shut his hands like he wanted to grab the ducks. When his hand opened again, I quickly put my index fingers into it. His small palm felt soft. Ichirin laughed yet again and squeezed my finger. I felt like the luckiest man on Earth right that instant. Smiling back at him, I gently shook him and made my way up the grassy knolls of Karakura park to get back on the pedestrian path.

Slightly shifting him, I took a whiff of the baby smell that emanated from Ichirin. The smell of Ichirin is a sweet smell, a mixture of baby powder and Orihime's perfume. It reminds me so much of his mother that smelling him felt like Orihime was right beside me. I took another deep breath letting thefragrant fill all my olfactory senses but the new breath of airsmells different.

'Arghh…air…air…' I gasped, my mind shouted out helplessly.

Ichirin was awfully silent compared to the same personwho was laughing and smiling just now. Easing my finger out of his clutches, I held Ichirin a little distance away from my body and eyed him critically. At this distance, I can feel fresh air entering my body once again. At times like this I really appreciate Mother Nature for her crisp fresh air. Now, I wonder what I should do with Ichirin.

I stood there pondering about it for a while and it suddenly struck me. The answer was so simple, how can I actually miss it?

I took a step back and put Ichirin, who is sucking on his thumb now, on the grass.He looked back at me with his huge doe-like eyes.

"You wait here for Daddy, alright? Daddy is going to find Mommy and will be back real quick," I reassured him and playfully patted his head. Gathering spiritual energy to my feet, I sped back home.

Orihime came out from the kitchen the minute I shut the door. She started, "You guys are fast today, how was…was…"

I quickly went to her side andpulledher to the door.

"Uryuu, where is Ichirin?"

"Hush, I'm taking you to him right now…there has been an accident…" I said, carrying her and concentrating. In a blink of an eye, we are back at the park where I left Ichirin. A crowd has gathered around Ichirin who is crying now.

I put Orihime down and she rushed over to Ichirin. She picked him up and hummed to comfort him.

"What a poor child…how could people abandon him here?" I caught snippets of the crowd's conversations.

'**_I_** definitely did _not_ abandon my son…' I thought heatedly to myself. My fists balled up to control my anger.

"Uryuu…"Orihime said, concern in her voice. She eyed me quizzically, "What happened? Ichirin is fine except that his diaper is full…"

By now the crowd has dispersed and I felt at lost of words at how to explain the situation to Orihime.

"Don't tell me that you left him there because he smells…" she stated the obvious all of a sudden. How she knew I have no idea. I could not meet her gaze.

Subduing Ichirin, she walked towards me, her eyes ablaze she said in a steady voice, "Here…"

"You said you wanted a more active role in Ichirin's life last week, right? Could you hold him till we get home…the normal way," she continued after pushing Ichirin into my arms. I wrinkled my nose and accepted my soiled son. It was difficult not to accept the bundle of joy with your beloved wife beaming ever so sweetly at you as Orihime is doing right at the moment.

Two days later

I watched as she fixes the fresh new diapers on Ichirin before pulling on the new jumpsuit that I sewed specially for him. He was smiling the entire time and I cannot help but grin at the sight that unfolded in front of me. Orihime then peppered some baby powder on his limbs and she gave him a peck on his cheeks before announcing, "Uryuu, he's done now!"

I quickly rushed forward to take Ichirin from her as she took him off the nursery bed where she uses it to change him. I clapped my hands and held it out but Orihime kept Ichirin close to her chest, eyeing my outstretched hands in disapproval.

"Uryuu, don't forget our little talk two days ago…" she said suddenly.

I nodded and gave her a peck on her cheek, before finishing her sentence for her, "Don't forget to bring Ichi home especially if _it_ is full…"

She smoothen Ichirin's hair with the grace and poise of a mother hen. Suddenly her eyes harden like agates, "And you know what happens if you **do** leave him behind this time!"

I gulped and gave her another nod.

Her face softened back to their normal featuresand she let out a giggle, "Ja, have fun at the park!"


End file.
